Legal Advocacy

The ACLU of Maryland Legal Department's docket features an array of cases and other legal advocacy touching on a wide range of civil liberties issues. It also reflects important themes. First, the ACLU of Maryland has been increasingly called upon to defend important federal civil rights laws from challenges by courts increasingly hostile to enforcing the protections of federal law. Second, the ACLU resolves legal issues with legislative remedies, bringing advocates, activists, and others together to effect social change.

From a single phone call to complex litigation, the ACLU brings the force and intent of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Maryland Declaration of Rights to life for all Marylanders.

The Bradford lawsuit, based on a claim under Marylandʼs constitution, is still open and remains under the authority of the stateʼs Circuit Court. It was filed in 1994 by the ACLU against the state of Maryland on behalf of school children and their parents/guardians in Baltimore City.

Women Against Private Police have requested review in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court of a State Board of Elections (SBE) decision blocking them from bringing before the voters a bill authorizing creation of a private police force at Johns Hopkins University.

Residents of the small town of California, in Southern Maryland, Mr. Wanrong Lin and Ms. Hui Fang Dong, were separated by ICE’s “bait and switch” practice. Like other ICE offices across the country, the Baltimore ICE office is detaining and deporting non-citizen spouses of U.S.

(UPDATE: On March 23 the Trump administration announced its proposal to implement the trans military ban. On April 23, six additional individuals who want the opportunity to serve in the military and are transgender joined the ACLU's lawsuit.)

The ACLU of Maryland brought a lawsuit against Governor Larry Hogan that is apart of a wave of high-profile cases across the country against elected officials charged with trying to silence constituents on social media.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland filed a lawsuit challenging the practice as an unconstitutional violation of free speech and illegal under Maryland's public transparency through "gag orders" that silence victims of police abuse as a condition of resolving their cases.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland filed a lawsuit challenging the practice as an unconstitutional violation of free speech and illegal under Maryland's public transparency through "gag orders" that silence victims of police abuse as a condition of resolving their cases.